The woman anxiously waiting by the door of the Allinger apartment introduces herself as Rita, Carmen Allinger's younger sister. "I'll come in with you," she says, so you give her a mask and some gloves.

The apartment is small and dead silent. You and Rita move into the first room, looking for clues to what made Isabella Allinger sick.

IN THE LIVING ROOM

It's a typical living room, with an old couch facing a TV set. The VCR is flashing "12:00... 12:00... 12:00..."

"Nothing here," Rita shrugs, but you aren't so sure.

"What's this?" you ask, pointing at a houseplant
sitting in a pot on the coffee table. It's a small plant with long swordlike
leaves and an exotic green flower.

"I don't know," Rita admits. "It wasn't here the last time I visited my sister." You ask her when that was. "A week ago,"
she says.